Reinventing real estate: How online empowered consumers are taking charge and paying less

Homekeys Town Hall Meeting- February 19, 2008

Remarks made by Manuel J. Iraola, CEO of Homekeys

What is going on in real estate?

These are fun times for the Real Estate industry. So much is going on !

For decades, the real estate world turned in a predictable manner. And now, everyday brings the news of many start ups using technology to transform what has been a "well protected business model".

For many years,the roles of buyers, sellers and real estate professionals were fairly well defined and transactions followed a predictable path of yard signs, newspaper ads, open houses and miles of paperwork. Not anymore ! Online and empowered consumers are and will continue to change the game.

Real estate professionals now face issues similar to the ones that have transformed the
retail, personal finance and travel planning industries. As technology advances and new business models evolve, the real estate industry has begun to transform itself from providing traditional, carefully controlled “agent-centric” transactions to new “consumer-centric” practices.

What are the trends driving these changes?

The “Five Ds” that are driving change in real estate are:
1. Disruption – Over the past 10 years, the Internet has matured into a powerful platform for delivering real estate information, forever changing the interaction between buyers, sellers and real estate professionals.
2. Displacement – The popularity and acceptance of self-service and consumer direct business models is being felt by real estate professionals, who are striving to develop attractive new offerings for Web-savvy consumers.
3. Demanding consumers – You now have more real estate knowledge, tools and resources at your fingertips than ever before. More savvy consumers tend to be more independent and demanding.
4. Downward pressure - Traditional real estate commissions of 5-6 percent of a property’s sales price are facing downward pressure.
5. Developing alternatives – The real estate industry is transforming itself to provide targeted services and exciting new options that add value for consumers.

Tomorrow's topic : Disruption

Look for us on the Web at www.homekeys.net and give us your feedback, ideas or input.

We would like to hear from you!

What goes up must go down

According to the associated press December ended as the worse year for the real estate market in the South Florida in the last 3 decades.
Real estate is a local business and we need to be careful with "satistics". You simply cannot generalize. The glass is half empty for some and half full for others.
Homekeys offers real estate services in 67 Florida counties and what we see is different from County to County. If you travel through the tri-county area Dade, Broward and West Palm, you will see more for sale signs than ever before. but that is not the case in other Regions . It is a fact that the tri-county area has become one the most difficult places to sale a house. But like anything else, all that goes up must come down and that does not exempt real estate. We have been through similar difficult periods in prior decades and eventually the market will sort itself out.
Homekeys offers the widest range of choices and savings for buyers and sellers.
Call us for details

Selling Direct by Owner is Increasing in Popularity

Trying to differentiate one real estate company from another, could be a difficult task. They all seem to offer the same products, for a similar price. Web based companies are starting to break the mold. Perfect examples of it can be found at Homekeys. Their theory is to offer maximum exposure and complete service; all these for a low set fee. And this seems to be the trend that real estate is moving to. Sellers are realizing that paying 6% commission is too high for the amount of actual work that is put on a listing. Companies like Homekeys have recognized that issue and are aggressively marketing their “for sale direct” program. This means you get all the benefits of a realtor, plus all the exposure of a web based company for a ¼ of the realtor’s fee.
At the end of the day, what really matters is that your property is price properly and that it receives maximum exposure. And in today's environment you do not have to pay 6 plus % to sell your property.

Technology must reduce real estate transaction costs

We don’t believe it is enough to use technology simply to generate traffic for real estate and mortgage professionals and perpetuate the role of the traditional intermediaries. This provides consumers with access to better information for decision making purposes but total transaction costs basically remain the same. It does nothing to change the agent centricity of the current real estate business model. The real estate professional remains in control of what for most people are the two most important financial decisions in their lifetime. The only thing that changes is who enjoys the lead generation revenues.

At Homekeys we develop and use technology to transform the way real estate has been transacted during the last 50 years. Homekeys redistributes the “value chain revenues” and allows consumers to significantly reduce transaction costs. They are provided with the information, tools and resources necessary to control the transaction and save significant money. The more the consumers choose to do, the more they save.

We believe that to truly be customer-centric in today’s real estate market, consumer empowerment should extend well beyond access to property value estimates, comps and county data, it means enabling consumers that take on a more active role to translate that labor into savings. The more significant the role, the more the reciprocal savings.

What do you think?

Succesful Sellers Think like Buyers

The most succesful sellers are the ones that think and act like buyers.
This is what they do:

1. They search for homes that are for sale in their neighborhood in sites like http://www.homekeys.net/. This site provides listing details and free and unlimited access to comparables and most likely property market values. Maps are also included. These allow you to see the location of each property.
2. They drive around and identify those properties that appear to be comparable and assess the external condition and comparability of those properties. They also look around for FSBO properties. FSBO sellers are actively competing with properties listed in the MLS . Potential sellers can contact FSBO owners directly and inquiry about asking prices as well as other relevant factors.
3. They see their home thru the eyes of the buyers. We all believe what we have is better than what it actually is for others; thus, we need to be realistic. Value like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just because we like it does not mean the rest of the world will. How will a potential buyer react when visiting your home? Just think about your reaction when you are buying . And others will not be any different.!
4. They establish the asking price by incorporating all the information gathered during the fact finding process. What will I be competing against? What are my goals? Do I need to sale? If so, how quickly? Many of our clients decide to sell by owner and we assit them in the marketing of their property. The fact is that you can be effective selling on your own as long as you are realistic! There is not a need to sacrifice quality for service nor a need to pay a commission of 6%.
5. They are as factual and unbiased as they can be. They are good at removing the "emotional factor" from their decision. This is easier said than done but it must be done.

These are difficult times; be thoughful and honest in your process and you will be succesful.

How is For Sale By Owner working for sellers?

Why is it that everyday more and more people are selling their properties by themselves? New sellers ask themselves this question everyday. Can I really sell my property by doing most of the work myself even though I know so little about this business? The answer is YES. With so many new technologies available for people out there you don’t have to go looking for buyers for your property. They come to you! Why? Because over 80% of the buyers use the hundreds of websites such as www.homekeys.net that are available for sellers to advertise their properties online.

The concept For Sale By Owner is not new but is it is certainly getting more popular everyday. Sellers are getting tired of having to may as much as 6% in order to sell their property knowing that they could do most of the work saving thousands in commissions. And this is even becoming more important in a down market as we all are trying to preserve our equity.

Visit our For Sale By Owner site or contact us at 1.888.333.9004.

Sell Direct with FSBO and Protect your Equity

It is difficult if not impossible to accurately predict where the market is heading. We, homeowners, cannot control the market but we certainly can do a better job in understanding what is going on so we can make "more intelligent and less emotional" decisions.
Here are a few lessons we learned from succesful for sale by owners :

1. Be realistic--- whatever happened 8 months ago does not longer reflect what is happening now. Those happy days for sellers are gone for at least for now; and nobody knows when these days are coming back.
   
   
2. Be aggressive and price to sell--- the supply is the highest in decades; thus you have a lot of competition. You need to understand not only what was sold "yesterday" but what is for sale today that is comparable to your property. Buyers have options and they will compare what you have to offer with other comparable alternatives. Be competitive and price your home at 5% below comparable listings. www.homekeys.net gives you free and unlimited access to all the information you need to price it right in several Florida counties including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange and Hillsborough.
   
   
3. Sell direct and save commissions--- in addition to pricing ( the obvious!), you need to reach as many potential buyers as possible. Recent surveys show that over 85% of the buyers find their properties in the Internet. Yes, over 85% of the people and the number is growing! How to maximize the EXPOSURE is critical. Visit our For Sale By Owner site or contact us at 1.888.333.9004.